As guests were mingling, finishing tours of the farm, and while the first course of the meal was being prepared and ready to be sent out, a Southern Nevada Health District employee came for an inspection.

Because this was a gathering of people invited to our farm for dinner, I had no idea that the Health Department would become involved. I received a phone call from them two days before the event informing me that because this was a “public event” (I would like to know what is the definition of “public” and “private”) we would be required to apply for a “special use permit.” If we did not do so immediately, we would be charged a ridiculous fine. Stunned, we immediately complied.

We were in the middle of our harvest day for our CSA shares, a very busy time for us, but Monte immediately left to comply with the demand and filled out the required paper work and paid for the fee. (Did I mention that we live in Overton, nowhere near a Health Department office?) Paper work now in order, he was informed that we would not actually be given the permit until an inspector came to check it all out. She came literally while our guests were arriving! In order to overcome any trouble with the Health Department of cooking on the premises, most of the food was prepared in a certified kitchen in Las Vegas; and to further remove any doubt, we rented a certified kitchen trailer to be here on the farm for the preparation of the meals.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 at 05:46 and is filed under Your tax dollars at work - and play..
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Responses to “Health Department Raids Community Picnic and Destroys All Food With Bleach”

Why on earth would you let one nut case from the health dept. do all that damage? Just tell her she’s not welcome.

Actually, I ran into a similar problem – long story – over a bingo license for a company picnic. We hired the local sheriff’s office to handle parking and security. When I mentioned to the sheriff that an inspector from Austin had threatened to show up and have my head if she could find anything that wasn’t perfect, he just laughed and said, “Don’t worry, we won’t be able to verify her credentials until sunrise tomorrow – guaranteed!”

Rules and unmitigated authority can be used to f*** over those who abuse you with rules and unmitigated authority.

(It’s a practical extension of the “Unbreakable Toy Rule”: An unbreakable toy can be used to break other toys.)